Syracuse's Baye Moussa Keita and Jerami Grant block the shot of Pace's Jonathan Merceus in the first half of SU's exhibition game against Pace at the Carrier Dome.
Photo by Dennis Nett
Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard

The Orange blocked 14 Pace shots on Thursday night. Rakeem Christmas led the block brigade with five. Dajuan Coleman had three and Baye Moussa Keita swatted two Setters shots.

“That’s very helpful,” SU point guard Michael Carter-Williams said. “There’s a lot of guys who can block shots – Baye, Dajuan, Rock (Christmas), Jerami and James, too. Those guys are a force down low. It’s great to have them start the break.”

Pace was obviously much smaller than SU – the Setters’ tallest starter checked in at 6-foot-6. But SU appears to have the personnel to become a decent shot-blocking team.

Christmas and Keita logged most of their minutes in the middle of SU’s 2-3 zone. That area generally yields more blocks than the baseline, but Christmas and Keita, too, are fairly experienced big men with quick, agile bodies.

“We’re real long and me and Baye are known as shot-blockers,” Christmas said. “Dajuan’s pretty fast and he can block a few shots, too. We’re just back there doing what we have to do.”